No More Cars

Brett McMillan

It’s a foregone conclusion that the Chase will be different next year.  How?  That we don’t know yet.  Why?  Because Jimmie Johnson has won four in a row.

While I don’t mind the rumors of some kind of “elimination” as the Chase goes along…I do mind the idea of increasing the size of the field.

Making the Chase should be hard.  It shouldn’t be like college football bowls where everyone who has a mediocre season gets to play.  I didn’t support the move to 12 and I don’t support any thought of making it bigger.

This is the 7^th year of the Chase.  When it started, we could immediately rattle off a list of 5 or 6 drivers we would have expected to see in the Chase each of those 7 years.  The reality is: the list of drivers who have made the Chase every year is much shorter.  Jimmie Johnson.  That’s it.  One.

And, that’s the way it should be.

We’re already looking at the possibility of having 5 of the 12-man field enter the Chase winless.  At least all the guys in the top-12 all have 10 top-10 finishes.  The only driver outside the top-12 with 10 top-10s…Juan Pablo Montoya.  In my world, a guy who can’t finish in the top quarter of the field 40% of the time doesn’t deserve to be playing for a title.

Clint Bowyer pretty much having 12^th locked up before Richmond may lead to a knee-jerk reaction.  Let’s look at 15 then.  There’s not much more drama there.  Mark Martin leads 16^th by a still healthy 39 points…17^th is 53 back.

More cars doesn’t guarantee more drama….just more mediocrity battling for a piece of the spotlight.

Applause

Brett McMillan

When folks disagree with NASCAR’s rulings or decisions…they’re quick to criticize.  So, often, the things NASCAR does right get lost in the ether.

Labor Day weekend, we see two of those things in action.        

First, double-file restarts.  This has the best single change NASCAR has made in my memory for promoting better, more exciting racing.  Cautions have always bred cautions…now, they breed side-by-side action between drivers battling for position…not just to get back on the lead lap.

The second thing is bringing Labor Day racing back to the south.  There was no greater tradition than the Southern 500 at Darlington on Labor Day weekend.  When folks want to talk about how NASCAR turned its’ back on long-time fans…taking that date to California was item number one on the list.

The fans have enthusiastically embraced the return…filling the seats at Atlanta Motor Speedway with the best crowds we’ve seen there in years.  Better yet, it’s now a night race.  Those were some long, hot Labor Days in Darlington…and, California turned out to be worse (but it WAS a dry heat!)…Atlanta at night is a much more comfortable environment for the fans, teams and drivers.  That helps everyone enjoy the show at one of the raciest tracks on the circuit.

And, with the NFL season still a week away…Sunday night is a great time to get a clean shot at showing fans just how entertaining NASCAR racing can be.

Oh, Say Can't You Sing?

Brett McMillan

Haven’t we learned our lesson yet?  How many more contemporary music stars do we need butchering the national anthem before we quit booking them?

Saving Abel, at Michigan, was only the latest in a long line.

NASCAR has the best “pre-game” ceremonies in sports.  Nothing tugs at the heartstrings like a well-performed national anthem followed by a military flyover.  (Don’t get me started on how TV then screwed up the greatest crescendo in sports by now making us wait 5 minutes until “start your engines”.)

NASCAR fans are well-known as a group that proudly displays its’ patriotism.  I’m not sure some of the acts brought in to sign the national anthem take it as seriously as they need to.  Forget the fact that singers will tell you it’s a tough song to sing…all the more reason they should be taking it seriously.

I’m ready to bag the singers altogether and take a cue from college football…bring in college marching bands.  There are plenty of really good college bands throughout the country and they’re used to performing the song with class.

And, as a side benefit…you might also be able to get some of them to become fans…helping that younger demographic.

Losing the Monkey

Brett McMillan

Since watching two drivers win 10 of the first 17 races, it’s been fun watching different folks celebrate in Victory Lane the last few weeks.

At Watkins Glen in particular, it was fun watching as a pair of NASCAR’s hardluck guys battled for the win.

It didn’t matter who was going to win between Juan Pablo Montoya and Marcos Ambrose; as long as one of them did.  Both were in line for some redemption.

Montoya has dominated the last two Brickyard 400s before self-inflicted wounds doomed both efforts.  Ambrose had the inside track for a win at Infineon this year before falling victim to his own brain fade.

A win by either driver was going to be good for the sport.  Montoya winning gets more international attention…thanks to his open wheel background.  If Ambrose had won, it would have been a first for an Australian driver…and would have put one of NASCAR’s most personable drivers in the spotlight.

Sometimes those monkeys that drivers carry around on their backs are the size of Jocko Flocko…but, if they’re around too long, they turn into King Kong.  Montoya finally shook his off at the Glen…joining Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle as former zoo-keepers this year.

There’s an old saying that variety is the spice of life…well redemption makes a pretty good story too.  Overcoming struggles and failures is something we can all identify with.

The Sun Is Not The Answer

Brett McMillan

Is it ironic or irresponsible or both?

Last August, the fine folks at Pocono announced they were putting a bunch of money into building a solar farm.

Ironically, two days later, the scheduled Cup race was rained out.

Now, I’m all for using alternative energy sources and reducing our dependency on foreign oil…but there wasn’t any humor in watching the Cup garage turn into a small river during the rainout.

We asked the question then…why put all that money into a solar farm when the track clearly needs upgrades?

Now, after watching two horrifying wrecks in the two races at Pocono this year…the question still stands.  Only this time, the potential consequence of their lack of improvements is more than just wet shoes.

Every track on the Cup circuit should have been going over their facilities over and over in recent years…looking for places that are cracks in their safety net.  What happened to Elliott Sadler is inexcusable at best…irresponsible at worst.  Maybe you can’t get rid of that corner…but, there are ways to make sure no one goes flying in there at full steam…sand pit for instance?

For a group forward-enough thinking to build a solar farm…much of the racing facility it supplies is stuck in, what should be, a bygone age.

Thinking Bigger

Brett McMillan

First, it was Juan Pablo Montoya at the Brickyard…then, Marcos Ambrose at Infineon…two foreign-born drivers on the verge of winning races…penalized by NASCAR…one for going too fast…the other too slow.

Those two penalties led to a chorus of conspiracy theorists claiming that they’re just further examples of how NASCAR doesn’t want foreign drivers winning races.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

There is a lot of opportunity for growth out there…especially overseas.  And, growth means more interest and more money. 

Recently, I spent a week and a half in Europe…and my trip underscored how much room for growth remains.  I have been blessed to get to travel to a lot of different places and this is the first trip I can remember taking in the last 20 years during which I didn’t see a single stitch of NASCAR-related clothing.  Not one.

And, when I would tell the natives that I did work in NASCAR, I got blank stares in return. 

Oh, they watch racing…I saw touring cars and motorcycles racing on TV.  But, Europe doesn’t know anything about NASCAR.

Believe me, the folks in Daytona see Europe as a huge untapped market…and know that nothing will get their attention faster than a non-American driver winning races.

Did the World Cup get any of your attention while the United States was in it?  How much did that change once they were out?

We all tend to be provincial…those with a world view know that’s what they need to tap into